Inside Boxing: Manfredo taking another crack at a world title

Peter Manfredo Jr. gets another crack at a world title next month and this time it's a "winnable" one.

BOB HANNA

Peter Manfredo Jr. gets another crack at a world title next month and this time it's a "winnable" one.

The Pride of Providence takes on WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavaz Jr. Nov. 19 at the Reliant Arena in Houston in a fight that will be carried on HBO's Boxing After Dark series at 10:30 p.m.

You'll recall that Manfredo's first title shot was against super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in April 2007. Manfredo's chances in that one were slim and none, as Calzaghe was not only bigger, but faster, a lot faster. And Manfredo isn't slow by any means. A top three pound-for-pound fighter at the time, Calzaghe retired undefeated (46-0, 32 KOs) in 2008.

Chavez may be the son of a legend, but he is no where near that plateau. That's not to say he's a chump, but he's beatable, a good solid technician who is neither especially fast or powerful.

He won the title last June with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Sebastian Zbik, another so-so middleweight. Of the five current "world" champions, Chavez is probably Manfredo's best shot, with the possible exception of the WBO's Dimitry Pirog, who I know nothing about (the other champs are Felix Sturm, WBA; Daniel Geale, IBF, and the cream of the crop, Sergio Martinez, Ring Magazine).

Manfredo is well aware of the situation.

"Winning this fight is everything for me," he said last week after the fight was officially announced. "If I lose this fight, I am done with boxing. I see this as my last opportunity, and I don't plan on letting it pass me by. I know that I'm in for a tough fight, but it's a winnable fight and I am very confident I will do just that."

Manfredo gained national recognition as a finalist in the 2005 debut season of "The Contender" TV series, but is probably best remembered locally for his third round TKO of Scott Pemberton, who retired after that loss.

The 30-year-old Manfredo, who is ranked fourth by the WBC and sixth by the IBF, takes a two-year, six-bout winning streak into the Chavez fight.

Chavez vaulted into middleweight rankings off his dominating win over former prospect John Duddy of Ireland in June 2010. This will be his first title defense.

Manfredo is planning on making it his last.

Don't ask me why, but I had misgivings about the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson fight from the get-go. As much as I admire Hopkins for his achievements in the ring, he has also been involved in some stinkeroos in recent years — the Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr. fights come immediately to mind.

I also like Dawson, a highly-skilled fighter despite his tendency to take naps during some of his fights. So I was thinking this could be one of those tactical yawners.

But it never got to the yawning stage. In case you missed it, Hopkins dislocated a joint in his shoulder in the second round and Dawson was awarded a TKO victory without throwing a punch.

From what I gathered from the accounts on the "fight," it was more of a wrestling maneuver by Dawson that did in Hopkins.

Dawson had ducked under a right hand from Hopkins when the latter's momentum carried him onto the shoulder of the crouching Dawson. The challenger then pushed up with his shoulder while using his left arm to lift Hopkins' right leg, and deposited him rather hard on the canvas. I think they call that a body slam in wrestling.

Whatever, it was enough to separate Hopkins' shoulder (that much was confirmed by an examination at the California Hospital Medical Center), though I'm sure that was not the intention of Dawson, who was just trying to get Hopkins off his shoulder. Referee Pat Russell ruled there was no foul and awarded the victory and the WBC title belt to Dawson, at least for the time being.

Hopkins's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, has promised to file a protest with the California State Athletic Commission.

When all the dust and accusations have subsided, look for the California commission to reverse the referee's verdict, rule the fight a no contest, and order a rematch.

The biggest losers, of course, are the fans who forked over $55 for the PPV non-fight.

On the brighter side, I can almost guarantee a good fight when IBF bantamweight champion Abner Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs) and Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) get together Dec. 3 in their IBF mandated rematch. And it won't cost you anything if you have Showtime.

This is the sequel to the Showtime bantamweight tournament, in which Mares won a hotly disputed majority decision over Agbeko in the tournament finale last August.

The IBF, however, ordered the rematch because "inappropriate conduct" affected the outcome. This was the fight where the referee, Russell Mora, warned Mares about low blows at least five times without ever deducting a single point.

He also called it a knockdown when Agbeko appeared to slip, and ruled another knockdown for Mares from a blatantly low punch, which changed a 10-9 round for Agbeko to a 10-8 round for Mares.

He faces another unbeaten prospect in Will "Power" Rosinsky (14-0, 8 KOs), who like Rodriguez was an outstanding amateur, winning the U.S. light heavyweight championship in 2005 as well as being a four-time New York Golden Gloves champ.

Rodriquez, who helped Dawson prepare for Hopkins as a sparring partner, is ranked in the top 15 by all four major sanctioning organizations, including No. 5 by the IBF and No. 6 by the WBC.

Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at sports@s-t.com